Iverson matched his career high and the best total in the NBA
this season, leading the Philadelphia 76ers to a 119-108 victory
over the road-weary Sacramento Kings.

One week away from his first All-Star Game, Iverson provided a
peek for a national TV audience. The electric 6-1 guard took an
astounding 40 shots -- making 20 -- and added nine rebounds and
six assists.

"It's nice to see Allen play so well on TV in a game where we
were one of the primary games. That was neat," 76ers coach
Larry Brown said. "I think it has to mean a lot to everybody.
There was a time when we were never on. The reason we're on is
because we've won some games and Allen is on our team."

"I just played my regular game like I try to play every night,"
Iverson said. "I play every game like it's my last. I've been
taking a lot of shots since I was a little kid. That's what I
do. I'm a scorer. You can't be a scorer if you get tired of
taking shots."

Brown didn't seem to mind Iverson's shot total, which surpassed
his 38 against Milwaukee on January 3 as the most by any player
this season.

"It's hard to get 40 shots up against anybody," the coach said.
"I thought his shot selection was pretty darn good and he made
some big shots. It's nice to have people watch on TV and see he
doesn't just shoot the ball.

"If he was taking bad shots, I think it would be a terrible
thing but I go in that locker room and I don't see many guys --
they mumble a little bit -- I don't see many guys complaining.
His assists have gone up with the number of shots going up. As
long as they know he's trying to win the game and his coach runs
stuff for him and he gets himself free, it's something they're
not opposed to. I'd love other guys to take shots. If you ask
him he would say the same thing."

Iverson scored in double figures in every quarter -- equaling
Sacramento's total in the third period -- as he tied his
previous career high against Cleveland on April 12, 1997. He
also matched Phoenix forward Cliff Robinson, who scored a league
season-high 50 points against Denver on January 16.

"It's a great accomplishment because not a lot of guys score 50
points," Iverson said. "Just to win makes it that much better.
It makes me feel real good. It let's me know that I can score
the way I'm capable of scoring and we can win. People feel like
when I score a lot of points, it's hard for us to win. It's
not. I'm the scorer on this team."

"He was very good," Kings coach Rick Adelman said "He
penetrated to the basket pretty much when he wanted to. We
didn't do a good job of keeping him in front of us. He had
streaks where he made shots but he also got a number of
open-court things. That really hurt us. We allowed him to get
easy baskets."

Webber was phenomenal. With the Kings playing their eighth road
game in 13 days, the All-Star forward had 32 points, 15 rebounds
and seven assists. He played every second until fouling out
with 1:37 to play.

That foul put Iverson on the line and he made both to reach 50
and give the 76ers a 109-102 lead. He had a steal on the next
possession and fed George Lynch for a clinching dunk before
exiting to chants of "MVP! MVP!" from the First Union Center
crowd.

"It's frustrating," Webber said. "They're a good team, you have
to give them credit. They took it from us and they won."

The Sixers never trailed and improved to 3-10 all-time when
Iverson scores 40 points or more, including 2-3 this season. He
had 40 in a three-point loss at Houston on Thursday.

"It's better when you win," said Iverson, who raised his
league-leading scoring average from 30.9 to 31.5. "I've been
getting so much flak about me playing a game like it's my last,
ending up with 40 and not winning. People looked at it like
it's a bad thing, but you have good nights some nights and your
team doesn't win.

"When I scored 40, we hadn't won a lot of those games. I play
the same way every night. When I scored 40 and we won, what
could be said about it then? It's the way it goes. I might
sccore five or 10 points and we still win. Is that to say if I
don't score, we'll win every night?"

Theo Ratliff had 15 points and 13 rebounds and Eric Snow added
11 and 13 assists for Philadelphia, which has won 10 of its last
12 home games. Snow had four steals and no turnovers and made
some big plays in the fourth quarter to stem Sacramento's rally.

Reserves Predrag Stojakovic scored 20 points and Scot Pollard
added a season-high 17 for the Kings, who went 3-5 on the
longest trip in the NBA this season. With Webber and flashy
guard Jason Williams, the league's highest-scoring team was on
national TV four times during the trip.

"To be 3-5 on an eight-game road trip is nothing to be proud of
or be in a rush to go home," Webber said. "We have to forget
about this trip. It's nothing."

The Kings trailed by 15 points entering the final period but
pecked away at the deficit. A tough-angle corner jumper by
Stojakovic made it 90-81 before Snow answered with a jumper with
8:52 remaining. Pollard's follow slam made it 94-87 but Snow
hit another jumper with 7:11 left. Stojakovic sank a 3-pointer
to cut the margin to 96-92 and Snow saved a loose ball inbounds
to Ratliff, who was fouled and hit free throws with 5:47 to go.

A long 3-pointer by Jon Barry pulled Sacramento within 101-98
with 3:24 left before Iverson responded with a corner jumper 17
seconds later. Webber and Iverson each made 1-of-2 free throws
around empty possessions for both teams before Webber fouled
out.

Matt Geiger scored 10 points and Tyrone Hill pulled down 14
rebounds for the Sixers, who shot 46.5 percent (46-of-99) and
held a 57-49 rebounding advantage.

Williams had 14 points and seven assists and Barry scored 11
points off the bench for the Kings, who shot 42 percent
(38-of-90), including 10-of-31 from 3-point range. Philadelphia
made one 3-pointer.

In the third quarter, Iverson scored 12 points, matching the
Kings' total. He also grabbed six rebounds and his only assist
set up Geiger's three-point play that gave Philadelphia its
biggest lead at 88-73 in the final second of the period.

After allowing 61 points in the first half, the Sixers held the
Kings scoreless for the first 4:56 of the third quarter and
rebuilt their lead to nine points. Sacramento missed its first
nine attempts and finished at 24 percent (5-of-21) for the
period.

Philadelphia came out flying as Ratliff scored six and Iverson
four in an opening 12-2 burst. The Sixers led by as many as 13
points before settling for a 36-24 advantage after one period as
Iverson scored 12 points.

"They came out and jumped on us early," Adelman said. "They
were intent on pushing the ball and taking to us. We dug
ourselves a hole twice and it was hard to come back."

Iverson scored 15 more in the second quarter, including a layup
that kept Philadelphia's lead at 55-45 with 4:27 remaining in
the first half. But the Sixers got sloppy and the Kings rallied
with a 16-7 spurt that featured six points from Webber and
3-pointers from Williams and Stojakovic and cut the deficit to
one point at halftime.

In the first half, Iverson scored 27 points on 11-of-21 shooting
and handed out four assists. Webber also was spectacular with
22 points and 11 rebounds.